Eight artists in Providence, Rhode Island, set up a secret apartment at a mall in Jeremy Workman’s aptly titled Secret Mall Apartment, produced and released on physical media by Music Box Films on November 18.
Secret Mall Apartment. The title succinctly states the subject and its coverage, just as the film itself does. It jumps right in and keeps tight. Of course, like any good documentary, and this is a damned very good one, there is more to explore. But the heart of Jeremy Workman’s documentary, produced by Jesse Eisenberg (not present outside of his name in the film, if you’re not a fan of specific delivery style), is of the apartment; how it came to be, the fun of building it as an art installation, and the lives of the people who frequented and “lived” there. Part heist flick, part art exploration, part discussion of gentrification and blandification of society, the whole is fantastic and mightily engaging.
The skinny of it: It’s 2003. Michael Townsend and three friends (more joined later) made a bet: who could stay the longest without getting kicked out of the sprawling, gigantic, eyesore to many, Providence Place Mall. The goal was a week. They were there off and and on for four years. After a night spent in an uncomfortable abscess of the hidden spaces, Townsend remembers watching a strange storage room that was needed for construction but not in retail from his apartment across the street. Wondering if it was still there, he wormed and worked his way through the bowels. Yes. Yes, it was. Wouldn’t it be fun to just hang out there, make a little artist home in the middle of the retail commercial giant of bland consumerism? Dawn of the Dead’s little living space, be proud! Soon, he’s joined by Colin Bliss, Adriana Valdez-Young, Andrew Oesch, James JA Mercer, Greta Scheing, Jay Zehnebot, and Emily Ustach (all revealed for the first time, before as mystery friends of the known Michael) as they move in, around, and experience the novelty of their new space…